Choosing Your Focus

Choosing Your Focus

Prior to beginning this assignment, please review all the required readings from the first three weeks as well as the articles you used in your literature review in Week Two.

During this course, you have been developing your knowledge in the area of learning and cognition. In the Week Two Assignment, there was special focus on the following constructs within learning and cognition:

• The Neurosciences: A Look at Our Brains
• Socio-Cognition: Social Interactions in Learning
• Learning and Literacy: Reading, Writing and Language Development
• Diversity and Culture: The Effects to Learning
• Connectionism and Learning: A Web of Development

These constructs, along with others, influence a wide variety of disciplines in psychology and other fields. In the final week of this course, you will develop a handbook based on one of these constructs. This week, you will choose the construct that you will concentrate on for this project. The construct you choose should be based on the area in which you would most like to develop your knowledge. Your choice should also consider your current interests in psychology and support your future career goals.

Identify the audience for your handbook and the main construct in learning and cognition that will provide the focus of your handbook. Explain your motivation for using the chosen construct as your focus subject as well as how this construct aligns with your future career goals. Research five peer-reviewed articles in the Ashford University Library focusing on your chosen construct. These articles must provide sufficient information so that they will support your work in the handbook. See the instructions for the Learning and Cognition Handbook in Week Six for further clarification. Provide complete references for each of the five articles. Format your references according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. Beneath each reference, provide an annotation that explains the theoretical perspectives, historical trends, and/or empirical findings within the article that describe and define your chosen construct. Provide a concluding paragraph that synthesizes the cognitive learning principles and theories found within the articles as they relate to your chosen construct.

As you prepare this assignment, keep in mind that it is designed to assist you with beginning the process of drafting your Learning and Cognition Handbook, which is due in Week Six. The paper should not include any quotes. It is recommended that your paper be checked in the Writing Reviser and through Turnitin prior to submission.

The paper:

• Must be two to four double-spaced pages in length, excluding the annotated bibliography, and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..
• Must include a title page with the following:
  • Title of paper
  • Student’s name
  • Course name and number
  • Instructor’s name
  • Date submitted
• Must begin with an introductory paragraph that clearly states the chosen construct.
• Must clearly discuss and explain the chosen construct with critical thought.
• Must end with a conclusion that synthesizes the cognitive learning principles and theories found within the articles as they relate to the chosen construct.
• Must use at least five peer-reviewed sources from the Ashford University Library.
• Must document all sources in APA style as outlined in the In-Text Citation Guide (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..

Carefully review the Grading Rubric (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.